PHOTO BY ALEX HICK JR./Spartanburg Herald-Journal: Dorothy Pruitt of Spartanburg, center, reacts as Wofford students show her how
to operate a digital device. Kara Bopp’s adult development and aging psychology
class helped senior citizens from the Shepherd’s Center learn how to operate
iPods, cell phones and Blackberries, among other items.
Tech-savvy Wofford College students teach their elders
Wofford class helps senior citizens grasp iPods, other devices
By Gary Glancy
gary.glancy@shj.com
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Dorothy Pruitt might not spend the bulk of her days texting and tweeting just yet, but thanks to a group of Wofford College students she's a lot more tech-savvy now than she was before this week.
Pruitt was one of a handful of senior citizens from the Shepherd's Center, an interfaith organization that provides programs for older adults, who visited Kara Bopp's adult development and aging psychology class this week.
Bopp's students taught a "technology 101" course to the seniors, showing them the ins and outs of using cell phones, digital cameras, Blackberries, the Internet and iPods.
"It was very useful because I'm retired and I haven't really gotten into the iPhone and all of that," Pruitt said. "Although I use the Internet, I am not up to date on the new technology, so it was very informative for me."
Now, Pruitt and the others can "friend" their families on Facebook or swing to big-band music they've downloaded onto an iPod. It was an invaluable experience for the seniors, many of whom "don't even know for the most part what a Blackberry is," said Lynda Hurteau, executive director of Shepherd's Center.
For Bopp's class, this was the last of several semester projects that involved interaction with local seniors groups, including Skylyn Place, Windsor House and the Alzheimer's Association support group. Bopp said she wanted to add a service learning component to the course this semester, and her students found the technology project particularly rewarding.
"The students feel like this is an opportunity for older adults to stay connected to friends and family by using the technology that their grandchildren are using," Bopp said. "So to open up that door for them was just an exciting opportunity."
The Wofford program complemented other technology courses offered at the Shepherd's Center, Hurteau said, including computer classes and a digital camera class.
"That was one of our most popular classes," Hurteau said, "because they had gotten digital cameras from their grandkids and kids, and didn't know what to do with them."
The Wofford program, meanwhile, has been mutually rewarding. Earlier this semester, the Wofford students visited Shepherd's Center, where the seniors taught them to play bridge.
"(The seniors) love it when (the students) come over here," Hurteau said. "Our center is a little different in that all of our programs are designed to keep (seniors) mentally stimulated as well as the physical and social aspect, so when the young people come over here and see how active our seniors are, they're surprised.
"I have a 95-year-old teaching Spanish - it just kind of blows their mind that, with the right stimulation and the right opportunities, the seniors can continue learning and teaching. That's what Dr. Bopp and I have been working on is getting that connectivity between the seniors and her students."
Myths of aging
According to Bopp, "Not only, I think, have we gotten rid of a lot of the myths of aging, but at the same time (the students) are looking at a very realistic view of aging. And even in that realistic view, they still have a very positive view of what they can anticipate for themselves as they get older. Part of the goal of the course is for them to understand what they can anticipate for their parents as well as for themselves, so that they learn from these older adults in the community. And I think they've seen a wide variety of older adults."
Hurteau and Bopp each would like to continue the technology 101 program next year. Hurteau said she'd like to include a section on downloading audio books from the library onto iPods for seniors to access as their vision fails or when they undergo medical procedures.
Said Bopp, "I think there is just a wealth of knowledge that they can learn."